“This is the result of the effort of a really tight team that’s been working really hard,” said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden as he congratulated the MAVEN launch teams on Monday’s liftoff. “I hope this mission serves as a model for those that come after it.”

Another roar of applause today as MAVEN deployed its twin solar arrays. The gull-wing-shaped arrays are essential to generate electrical power for the spacecraft and recharge the spacecraft’s batteries.

MAVEN is on its own now, headed for Mars! Applause roared up from the control rooms.The Centaur is far behind the scientific spacecraft and getting farther behind. The Centaur will be maneuvered so it doesn’t interfere with MAVEN or Mars later. Next up for MAVEN is the unfurling of its gull wing solar arrays so it can begin recharging its onboard batteries in about 20 minutes.